1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to the field of medical record keeping. The invention is more particularly related to accessing personal online health or medical records during an emergency for sporting events or during predefined time frames. Access to the emergency site is enabled by entering into a mobile device a URL or scanning a unique code that is printed on a sporting bib or other wearable artifact. The data types that are posted at the unique URL are specified by the event sponsors but are entered by the patient. Any number of emergency sites may be created for a single individual with variable times and periods of access duration.
2. Discussion of Background
In medical emergencies it is not uncommon for a victim to be incapacitated to the point of being unable to communicate with medical first responders. Of immediate concern to emergency medical responders is whether a patient or victim has any pre-existing conditions, allergies, or reactions to medical treatment that may be required. Even a simple aspirin may prove fatal to a victim with a pre-existing condition that adversely reacts with aspirin. Similarly, first responders might wish to know whether any pre-existing conditions may be the cause of or may have led to the medical emergency.
There have been suggestions that individuals carry a digital smart card, flash memory stick or some other implement that carries all their medical information. These devices could be carried on the person at all times, either in a wallet, pocket or purse. However, the drawback to this solution lies in losing these devices either through theft or misplacement. Should this occur, then all the personal health information or data for that person goes with it. The data may not necessary be lost, since there is most likely a backup at the source of the data, however with the loss of a device there is a loss of personal privacy. There are other situations where the devices require the user to enter a password or login code to view the information. While this is an important step in addressing security issues, should the patient be incapacitated, the device would not be helpful if first responders cannot acquire this information from an unconscious victim. Even flash drives or cards that contain a visible user ID and password fail to adequately protect the privacy of the device holder since anyone could access this information should the card be lost. A final drawback to carrying a card that resides in a purse, wallet or pocket that is hidden from view is that early responders might not legally be able to search for identifiable information on a person unless an officer of the law is present.
Many extreme sporting events, such as marathons, triathlons or long distance cycling events require participants to identify basic medical conditions during their registration process. Given the extreme nature of these events, participants are usually expected to be in proper physical shape to handle the duress of the events. They are also required to sign waivers that exempt event sponsors from any responsibility or liability in the event of injury or even death during the sporting activity. The unfortunate result of these waivers is that they inadvertently cause the event organizers to collect less medical information about their participants than might be necessary. Therefore, there is an important need for event organizers to collect more medical background of their participants in order to better treat them should they suffer a medical emergency, particularly if the victim is unconscious or unable to communicate.
Often, participants in extreme sporting events have a bib clipped on the front or back of their shirt or jersey that contains their participant number and perhaps their name, age, or even an emergency contact. Beyond the participant number, the available information on the participant is usually very limited.
In the event of an emergency first responders are tasked with stabilizing the injured athlete and often must call in the participant number on the bib to inquire about additional medical or contact information from the event organizer. Should the event organizers not collect sufficient health information as part of their registration process, then an important knowledge gap exists that may hinder or imperil treatment administered to the victim.
Therefore, a solution is required which allows event organizers to collect the information that they require for their medics as well their non-medical emergency responders, and which also permits critical information to be made available to early responders in an emergency during the event. Many responders now have Internet access through cellular phones or mobile devices, which access facilitates a solution to the problem of obtaining information that might not be carried on the subject of the emergency. Our solution capitalizes on the technologies available and satisfies the needs of event organizers in capturing the required information about the athlete participants while preserving the privacy and security of that information for the duration of the athletic event.
The following terms used in this application are defined as follows:
Athlete (or owner)—is a user who participates in an athletic event, who creates and generates the information in her personal health record. The athlete can also become a patient if injured or incapacitated in some way that requires the attention of emergency medical personnel or first responders. Referred to herein for convenience as “she,” an Athlete can obviously be of either sex.
Event Organizers (or third party entity)—refers to the administrative organizers of a particular sporting or athletic event or service.
Sporting Event—generally refers to athletic events but does not exclude any kind of event that occurs over a limited time period. An example might be a long distance journey, trek, or any activity where the availability of a participant's medical information is not readily available.
Service Provider System—this refers to the web-based software service provider that runs the programs for gathering and synchronizing information. In this case we refer to the myLifeLog® system that feeds specific fields from a personal health record system (PHR) into an emergency access area.
Emergency Access Site—EAS (or subsidiary dataset)—refers to a private, secure electronic location that contains personal, social, demographic, medical, and/or contact information that is a subset of the information present in the master database as defined below. The information may be presented to first responders in the form of a website (in HTML, PDF or similar format), an audio recording, a direct data feed to the emergency system on the emergency responder vehicle, or even as a data feed directly to the hospital system once the emergency responder has authenticated communications with the hospital. The site is a location that is accessible through Internet, cellular, or voice platforms and is read-only. It cannot be altered from outside of the Service Provider System.
Personal Health Record—PHR (or master online database)—referring to electronic health records that are created by individuals. There are many systems in existence that collect demographic, medical history and contact information from individuals. In this case, we refer to the myLifeLog® personal health record system as described in co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/211,308, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.